When you're born what you are...[OTA, tag Bill Adama]
Tiberius was doing more internal debating than talking. It was a trait that he came by honestly, considering who was responsible for his upbringing and his programming. He had taken Daneel's advice seriously, though there was some hesitance in the idea. What would it do to a man that hated to be trapped, a man that quietly dwelled and simmered
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Besides, there were two bedrooms in the space, as if it wanted her to have a roommate, but she hadn't come across anyone willing to share. Oh, well.
Okay, so maybe she was leaving a light trail of dirt behind her as well.
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"Miss! Hold on for a tick," he called out in a British accent just as proper and aristocratic as the Doctors, if his voice was an edge lower. He jogged easily to catch up with her, reaching to right the plant in her arms.
"Let me help you with that. Unless you were worried about finding your way back that is, then by all means carry on-" he looked over his shoulder in time to see a few janitors seeming to have scuttled out of nowhere to start cleaning up the debris.
"Oh, nevermind that. The station gnomes seem to have appeared."
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She looked a little confused at the 'station gnomes' comment until she spotted the janitors (seemingly out of nowhere) clearing up the dirt she hadn't noticed she'd spilled along the floor. Peri immediately let go of the plant (hoping that the man had a good grip on it) and rushed to help the workers with their task.
After they shooed her off, Peri looked a little dejected as she returned to the man. And her fern.
"They're real efficient," she said. "Sorta like when someone litters at Disneyland. Oh, and don't worry. I won't get lost trying to figure out where I went..." The docking bay wasn't that hard to find, and the TARDIS was so normal that it stuck out. Her arms spread wide, indicating that she was ready to take hold of the plant now ( ... )
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"Disneyland? Ah, an Earth tourist attraction or amusement park. Earth's long since been destroyed where I came from. Disneyland is long gone and something like this fern would be a valuable rarity. But the Clarion's Call had the same sort constant fussy little minions scuttling about." All former androids for the old warship turned Casino. He'd had some good times there... Better than he probably would ever admit in any polite company. He steadied the plant for her, bracing it evenly so it didn't hardly jostle at all.
"So you've been here long enough to find your way around?"
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Okay, so she'd probably never get used to talking with people from far into the future. She didn't have to hear about the Earth getting destroyed, did she? She knew it was inevitable for all planets, but still...
"It depends on whether someone saves whatever's from Earth, right?" Granted, there was so much junk on the TARDIS that Peri figured the Doctor could put together an Earth museum if he wanted.
Or maybe he already did.
"A few weeks, long enough to get a hang of this place." She wondered whether the man remembered the virus outbreak those same few weeks ago, but he hadn't mentioned it and hadn't reacted like he recognized her. Maybe Data was right? Maybe people were going to be more willing to forget the farther away the incident was?
"I'm Peri. Peri Brown."
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"I'll help you get this plant home, anyway. I should get back before my brother is done walking the dog."
He squinted his eyes, pondering as he bit his lip up between his teeth and started walking toward the living quarters. "It was before my time. Tarazed is where most successful humans live now, but there are some a little bit of everywhere. Earth had been taken over, ravaged, enslaved, and the humans that were living there had been in an unfortunate state. Not that I'm validating the tragedy at all, but what I've discovered much of what was wonderful about Earth has survived and spread far through the three galaxies. Though I wish more people had my good fortune of having a cat in the house."
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"That's what a friend of mine says. Um, about humans spreading across the galaxies, I mean. Not about the cats. He doesn't really like them." Probably reminded him too much of his companions, headstrong and independent. Peri recalled times when Erimem's cat would lay on the console and defend his turf at the expense of the Doctor's patience.
"But humanity's still a driving force in the universe, until the end."
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But he looked so real, so life-like. So human. Why couldn't she shake herself free from androids? How many were actually on the station anyway?
"But wouldn't it be easier to have a computer running the show on a ship instead of someone who can make mistakes?" She hoped to distract from the present awkwardness with the straightforward question. Maybe it was too late, though. She could handle this! She'd handled far, far worse traveling with the Doctor.
But why did it have to be androids?
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He was also damnably curious about those memories that his father had given Varsh concerning the Doctor, and was just short of stealing those memory chips so he could go and examine them himself. At least it would be something to get his mind off Lore.
"To navigate certain methods of travel, to avoid colliding with solid areas of matter you need a certain level or organic intuition. Organics can navigate with 99% accuracy. Synthetics, only 50% without the aid of an organic. I have a 'natural' inclination to travel. It's in my programming. I want to go places and learn rather than perform a task. However I lack the basic anatomy to do it to the best of my ability..."
His expression softened slightly, regarding her carefully. "...Does it bother you, what he looks like?"
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"I can't really explain why. Okay, I can, but I don't really want to. You know the Doctor. He, well, he gets caught up in things. Weird things. A lot. Sometimes he drags other people into that bubble and I got caught up one day...cuz I thought for sure that an android was my stepfather." Her jerk of a stepfather who didn't really care about her anyway, but her mom still loved the jerk. So, by proxy, Peri had to at least tolerate him.
"And I almost died cuz of it, so you can see why I'm a little...cautious."
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"Do you regret getting caught in that bubble?"
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She couldn't help but chuckle. "I just think the Doctor has his own ideas about what's all the rage in clothing. Maybe...maybe it rubbed off a little."
She shook her head quickly. "Nope. I mean, it can get scary a lot of the time, but he always manages to pull us through. I trust him. Completely."
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"I-it's a little weird. Humans, well, someone else looking the same or being the same...it screwed around with our sense of who we are. If we're not unique, then there's something wrong."
She smiled at his question. "It depends on the kind of advice you're looking for, I guess. I mean, he knows a lot of things, but he's really hopeless when it comes to relationships." It was kind of cute, in a way, to have someone so knowledgeable be so inexperienced.
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He suddenly laughed at her observation. "Relationships... well, not really. Though it explains why my father would have gotten along with him. He was always especially close to those socially inept people."
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